Hello again , dear Steemiers. This is the awaited sequel (let me dream ,ok?) to my new series on learning to play the guitar , just for begginers . This series is aimed at people who never really touched a guitar and want to start learning about it.
If you wanna read a little bit more about me , you can check my other posts , i would really appreciate it. There's also a really good introductory post in this series, which you'll find here :
https://steemit.com/steemit/@gonza.freytes/easy-guitar-for-begginers-intro-by-gonza
I know you want to jump right to learning , but please check that post so you can understand a bit more about this beautiful instrument.
Ready? You read it? I hope so.
Me if you lie to me.
Anyway , now that we got that out of the way , let's jump right to it .
What is a Chord?
Woah , easy there champ. First you need to learn about your guitar. What is a fret? A string? Which strings are there ? Well , to make this easy for you , the frets are each '' square'' you got in your guitar neck ( the long part).
Each fret is divided by these metal sticks thingies.
Every time you press a string on the CENTER of each fret , a different sound comes out. For example , try this right now. With one finger , press the fattest string ( the one that's closest to you , it's called the 6th string or the E string) on the 3rd fret and play it. Now try the same but on the 5th fret , the 7th and 12th.
You're playing different notes right now , but the most important thing is this : Noticed how when you got closer to the ''hole'' of your guitar , the notes got higher? Well , when you play notes on higher frets , the notes will have a higher pitch. You can experiment with it , see how it sounds , go ahead. Obviously , the lower the frets , the lower the pitch.
Now that we know about notes , lets move on to Chords.
Guitar Chords : My first musical headache
Alright , don't get scared , i got chords so wrong when i started playing so i will do my best to teach you how to play them correctly. What is exactly a chord?
A chord is a group of notes that you can play together , on different tones. It's the basis of a harmony. Today i'm going to focus on the 7 major chords : A, B,C,D,E,F and G.
Notice that there are a LOT of variations of chords , there's the minor chords ( Am, Cm, etc) , the flat chords ( F# , C#, etc) but don't panic , just start learning the Major and then the minor chords.
Before we begin , i'm going to give you some tips to play chords and notes :
- Try to work on your finger strenght , push the string hard so you can get used to play correctly.
- Play each note on the CENTER of the fret , not too far or too close , because the note will sound muted and you do NOT want that yet.
- Try to respect each graphic and the position of the fingers. The index finger is 1 , the middle one is 2 , the ring is 3 , the pinky is 4 . You can use your thumb when you're a pro ,but don't try it yet , you're not Santana man.
- Enjoy my failed attempt at showing you chords on video lol.
Alright , let's go .
The A Chord
The A chord is really Easy to play. The whole 3 notes are played on the 2nd fret , with your 3rd, 2nd and 1st fingers.
My demonstration:
The B chord
This chord gave me a LOT of problems when i was learning , and trust me it will give you problems too . What you have to do is to ''bar'' the WHOLE 2nd fret with your index finger , and play the notes with the fingers you got left. It sounds complicated an you need strenght , but you can do it. I believe in you.
The C chord
The C chord is pretty beautiful and interesting to play.
The D chord
The D chord is one of the easiest ones to play . It sound really good.
Come on , give her the D lol
The E Chord
Easy , right?
The F chord
This one is kinda hard , but with practice you can do it. You have to BAR the whole first fret the same way you did with the second on the B chord , but this time the digitation is easier.